


From the Shadows

by forgetcanon



Series: and love was their savior [6]
Category: Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic
Genre: Gen, Korriban, hinted Revanasi but it's not the focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 05:32:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3756274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetcanon/pseuds/forgetcanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dustil attracts the interest of a strange student who claims to owe his father a favor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From the Shadows

Dustil stayed away from the new students. Until they learned how the academy worked, there was no dealing with them. Some of them had the bright idea of picking fights with older students to get the attention of the teachers, which weeded out the idiots pretty quickly. Others asked for tips and clues, which the older students gleefully provided- _oh, yes, sure, the Tuk'ata will be_ completely _distracted if you feed them some extra meat from the kitchens._

It was hard to avoid the new students if they loitered outside your room.

Dustil had heard of this one. Everyone had. When someone called themself Shadow and wore a mask at all times, they stuck out. The only thing that kept the older students from openly mocking her was the fact that she was an ex-Jedi with a Mandalorian manservant. She was ridiculous, but she meant business.

Dustil didn't exactly want to be the person to find out what her business was, not with Uthar pressuring him to move up to the next level of training.

"Move," Dustil said tiredly. "You want prestige, figure it out for yourself."

"What's your name?" Shadow asked. Her voice was higher than he'd figured it would be, even muffled by the mask. Her common had the polished non-accent of a Coruscanti news broadcast.

"It's on the door. Which you're blocking."

"Yes," Shadow said. "Dustil Ward."

Dustil was about to exercise his rights as an upperclassman with a little lightning when she said, "Half of that is right, anyway."

He stiffened. "Like Shadow's your real name? Get lost, or I'll pass it around that the crazy one begged me for hints about how to sniff Uthar's ass."

Shadow spread her hands and stepped away from his door. "Alright, I'm getting."

\--

ACCESSING LOG: Ebon Hawk, Cockpit, 12.01.871.2210

> _\- Are you sure?_
> 
> _\- Carth, I've been keeping my eyes open. I haven't seen any sign of him._
> 
> -
> 
> _\- I know it's hard, but you have to trust me. It's not as though it's a small school. Upper-class students are permitted to take personal trips. Research expeditions into the caves can take more than a few days. He might have even, er, graduated. Just give me some time before you do anything rash._

ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ERASE THIS FILE? Y/N

ERASING....

\--

The thing was, Sith students didn't tend to come from happy pasts. Everyone had some skeletons in their closets. Dustil didn't need to hide the fact that he had one, too.

He just had to hide that his skeleton was a living, breathing Republic war hero, and someone had sent a first-year student to remind him of it.

That was, if she hadn't taken the initiative to talk to him herself. The Jedi were still fighting alongside the Republic, after all, and depending on how recently she'd fallen, she could even know his father.

Dustil didn't need this distraction. He'd already lost his opportunity to retaliate when he'd told her to get lost. Now he just had to wait. Either the person behind the message would try to get under his skin again, or they wouldn't.

...Or he'd wake up and the entire school would know.

No, he had to act.

At breakfast Dustil only had to make a few quiet noises about the mask gimmick before people were pooling their gossip.

"I hear she's not really a Jedi, she's one of those Mandalorians who take lightsabers from corpses," Nebeyla said.

Kreith scoffed. "Have you _seen_ her? She's knee-high to a Jawa. Besides, the mask she wears isn't Mandalorian. It's one of those stealth masks assassins like to wear. I hear she's in it..." He leaned in, grinning. "For _love_."

Nebeyla rolled hir eyes. "Never heard that one before."

Kreith shrugged. "I got it from Brienen. She said she overheard Shadow and Brannorn talking about where power comes from. Shadow said she left the Jedi Order because it does not permit revenge, Brannorn asked what Shadow's seeking vengeance for, and Shadow said that some powerful people had killed her lover to teach her a lesson. Then they talked about how vengeance isn't a good long-term place to draw your anger from, yadda yadda yadda, pass the ketchup."

Lura rarely had much to add to gossip, but he did say, "I heard that Mekel disappeared."

Dustil nodded. "Yeah, Uthar announced his death, weren't you here?"

Nebeyla grinned. "No, not dead. _Disappeared_. Lashowe- you know, the loud blonde?- tried to search his rooms for clues about the tombs, but it was already wiped clean."

Kreith finished dumping his ketchup all over his nerf hash. "It happens. I mean, I didn't expect Mekel to get squeamish and drop out, but..." He hesitated. "That's very strange."

"A lot of people are going to lose money on Mekel dropping out," Dustil agreed.

"No," Kreith said. His eyes flicked over Dustil's shoulder. "Shadow's pet is watching you."

Dustil turned just far enough to look at the Mandalorian in his scraped armor standing with his back to the wall. Shadow sat at the table in front of him, talking animatedly to one of the older students researching the Tomb of Ajunta Pall. There was nothing on her tray.

The Mandalorian smirked at Dustil. Dustil rolled his eyes and turned his back on him.

"I can't believe they let that thing follow her around," Nebelya muttered into hir grain.

Lura shrugged. "Mandalorians used to have style. They're very trial-by-fire. This one is following a Sith student, but he's old enough to have grey in his hair, that's almost impressive."

Kreith rolled his eyes. "So he's old and wise and we should all be quaking in our boots, or Shadow has really deep pockets. Speaking of- why is she even _in_ here? It's not like she can eat, with her mask on."

There was a moment of silence.

Nebeyla looked at Dustil. "So, I guess there's a reason you suddenly wanted to know about the underclassmen, hmm?"

Dustil shrugged. "Other than the fact that she's every bad stereotype of a Sith rolled into one package?"

Complaining about how pretentious the younger students were distracted them all for long enough that they forgot to pester Dustil. He finished his meal and left with the excuse that he had to do a favor for someone in the valley.

So Shadow wasn’t done with him. Great.

\--

She didn't have a room in the academy. As the rumors went, she returned to her ship in Dreshdae in the evenings. The rumors also said that Shadow didn't need to go nearly that far- Yuthura's bed was a much easier commute.

Unless that rumor was true, Shadow had no reason to be lurking in the students' quarters again.

Well, there was no time like the present.

"Keeping your eye on me?" Dustil asked quietly as he passed her in the hall.

"As often as I can spare," she replied. "I owe your father."

"He's not my father," Dustil spat. He intended that to be the last word, but Shadow turned on her heel and followed him.

"He thinks differently."

"What do you know?" Dustil asked, glancing around for listeners. Her droid and bodyguard were watching out, too. "What do you, or anyone know?"

"It's hard to know you when he couldn't _find_ you."

Dustil turned on his heel and jabbed a finger into her chest. "This ends now. I don't care what you think you know or what you think you owe my father, but if you bring this up again, I'm reporting you to Uthar as a spy."

Shadow laughed gaily. Dustil had just long enough to regret his outburst against Yuthura's favorite before she grabbed his wrist and twisted, just hard enough to be painful. He knew better than to break her grasp- she'd just do something worse to keep his attention.

"I'll let you in on a secret," she hissed. "You're _right_. I am a spy. Sooner or later, this academy is going to go through some hard times. Not my goal, but unavoidable. I owe it to your father to see you out alive, and whether that means that I warn you and you find a way on your own, or _I drug you and drag you out unconscious_ , is up to you." 

"How much does he know?" Dustil asked. He thought of the ship she had in Dreshdae- but no, his father was a navy commander, he'd be with the fleet. Wouldn't he? He wouldn't be involved in a stealth operation on Korriban.

Shadow's head tilted. She let go of his wrist. "He knows you're here in the academy. I've convinced him that I haven't seen you."

Dustil shuddered. "He's here, isn't he? He's on your ship."

Shadow nodded. "His face is even more recognizable than mine, and he can't pull off a disguise."

Down the hall, her bodyguard moved someone along. This little chat would be all over the school by dinner.

Shadow ignored the quiet commotion. "I want you alive, whatever that entails. If that means that, after my operation here is done, I reveal to him that I've been lying to his face about the whereabouts of the son he worked for years to track down, then so be it. I can live with that."

Dustil sneered. "Bullshit. You were just talking about drugging me and dragging me out of here."

"To keep you alive," Shadow insisted.

"What if I want to meet him?" Dustil asked, surprising himself. "What if I have unfinished business with him."

Shadow considered that.

"I won't let you kill him," she said. "And I won't allow you to compromise my operation here. Anything else is fine. Now, as far as anyone should be concerned, I've heard of your quiet, obedient success in classes and I've offered you the chance to run my errands for the low, low price of not being zapped by force lightning. If you want to talk to him, meet me in Dreshdae after dinner."

"I could just find out where your ship is. It wouldn't even be that hard," Dustil said.

He could sense Shadow's smile. "You could do that, yes. I thought I'd save you the trouble."

She turned and walked away, whistling for her droid and bodyguard. He had been on his way to class- now he walked back to his room and took a few deep breaths.

\--

People wanted to know what his talk with Shadow had been about. Dustil acted ashamed and evasive about the encounter and let people draw their own conclusions. To some of his closer friends, ones who might spill the news about Shadow at the risk of losing some of his trust, he related the story of how Yuthura's pet wanted someone to do her busywork.

His reputation would take a hit from this, but Dustil had no doubt that Shadow was deadly serious when she said that the academy would be shaken up by whatever she was doing here.

That left the question of exactly _what_ she was doing here unanswered. The rumor mill's most popular story about Shadow was that she was a Jedi who was becoming a Sith for revenge, because someone had killed her lover. She was far from the first Jedi to tell that story.

Dustil was certain that she _was_ a Jedi. Or, at the very least, she had Jedi training. She was too good at certain demonstrations during class for him to believe that she still followed the code. There was a reason that she was the favored student for graduation- she was damn _good_ at being a Sith. 

The father Dustil remembered wouldn't be caught dead with someone who could wield force lightning like that. But it had been a long time since Dustil had seen his father.

Speaking of...

Shadow slipped out of the seminar early, but her bodyguard remained behind. Dustil had a feeling Shadow had anticipated this.

Dustil scrawled out a note and passed it to the bodyguard, barely bothering to be subtle about it. People already knew something was going on- let them wonder exactly what it was.

> _There's no way I'm meeting you in Dreshdae. If you're so eager for a reunion, I'm sure you can find a way to smuggle him into the academy tonight._

Dustil thought Shadow hadn't lied to him, but Uthar was legendarily good at sniffing out when students were lying to him. If she was a spy and she passed daily under Uthar's gaze, then she was no match for Dustil. If she wasn't a spy and for some reason just had some obsession with Dustil's father, meeting her (and her lackeys) alone outside the academy would not end well for him.

Making her smuggle in his father kept her options limited and would keep any confrontation quiet. She'd already threatened to drug him, but Dustil would see that coming. Dragging him out of the academy would raise questions. She claimed that she didn't want to kill him.

She claimed that his father had looked for him. 

Dustil clasped his hands and meditated. He couldn't trust a word she said, but he could trust himself. When the time came to strike, he would know what to do.

\--

ACCESSING LOG: Ebon Hawk, Cockpit, 12.02.995.2210

> _-You lied to me!_
> 
> _-Yes, Carth. I did. I didn't want to scare him off and I didn't want you worrying. This is his handwriting, right? I made him curious, at the very least._
> 
> _-I can't believe you- you know what- Nevermind. Just._
> 
> _\- I'm sorry, Carth._
> 
> _-...How is he?_
> 
> _-He's a student in a Sith academy, Carth. He's cagey, untrusting, and shrewd. But, at the very least, he doesn't seem cruel or power-hungry like most of the other students. He's not in it for kicks._
> 
> _-Then what_ **_is_** _he here for?_
> 
> _-That's a question you'll have to ask him._

ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ERASE THIS FILE? Y/N

ERASING....

\--

There were only two sets of footsteps. She'd left her bodyguard and droid behind, then. Shadow's steps were light and quick. The other set was even and heavy, the footsteps certain even if Dustil sensed anxiety and distress.

Dustil stood. He already wore his lightsaber on his belt.

Shadow tapped on his door twice before trying to open it. He'd left it unlocked. She said a few quiet words and remained outside.

His father entered. Dustil saw relief, fear, awe, love-

"Dustil," Carth breathed. 

"Great," Dustil said, crossing his arms. He'd had some time to think about what to say. "She wasn't lying. When did _you_ become a spy?"

"A spy?" Carth looked genuinely confused. "Is _that_ what- We're on a mission for the Republic, but we're no spies."

The door opened slightly and Shadow slipped inside. "Keep it down, Carth. And in this case, we kind of _are_ spies." She closed the door, and to Dustil's shock, she took off the mask.

Shadow was older than most of the students here by far. He'd guess late thirties, though the Force tended to preserve things a little. She had a kind of sharp focus about her narrow face. 

"So," Dustil said, sarcastically clasping his hands in front of him. "What did you want to talk about? I assume you spent more than a bit of money bribing the guards."

It was curious, how hurt his father looked when he said that. Well, if his father thought that Dustil would fall crying into his arms, he was in for a rude awakening.

"What do you think I'm here for? I'm here to bring you _home_."

Dustil snorted. "What, to Telos? I hate to break it to you, but there's a giant, smoking hole in that plan." 

"Yes, after the Sith bombed the planet!" Carth shook his head. "I can't believe you joined them, Dustil, but-"

"You can't believe I joined the Sith?" Dustil interrupted. "What, after the Republic was so good to me?"

"The Sith are murderers!" Carth burst out. Shadow put a finger to her lip in warning, her eyes flicking to the door.

It was so typical of father. To come in and to expect everything to be okay, to ignore the fact that his fantasy world where good people got everything they deserved and bad people were punished didn't exist.

"So? You're a soldier, father, how many people have you killed?" Dustil said.

"That's different," his father insisted. "I went to war to protect _you_ , to give you a future, and... And here you are." He gestured weakly to the stone walls around them. 

"And here I am," Dustil said with satisfaction. "You're right, you know. You did give me a future. You showed me just how flat out _selfish_ someone could be."

Shadow's eyebrows twitched upwards in confusion. "Dustil, what part of 'went to war to protect his child's future' and 'searched for his missing son for two years' are you using to draw that conclusion?"

"What do you care?" Dustil spat. "Unless-" his eyes flickered between Shadow and his father.

Shadow's face revealed nothing. Father's, however...

Dustil's knees threatened to give. His hands tightened into fists.

His voice was very quiet when he spoke. "Eight months out of every year, you were off fighting. Eight. Months. If we were lucky, you actually came home for the other four, instead of signing on for another mission, and another. For as long as I can remember, mother was telling me stories about you because you were never actually there." Dustil's laugh was dry as a bone. His voice rose. "And here you are, out of the blue, and you actually have the audacity to bring along _your new girlfriend_. Well, I assume she's new, maybe-"

Shadow caught his gaze. "You want to stop talking."

Dustil's mouth nearly closed before he caught himself. His hand went to his lightsaber. " _Try that again_."

His father turned on Shadow. His voice was quiet, but his face was turning red with rage. "Vasha, I swear, if you use the Force on Dustil again-"

"Maybe if the two of you could refrain from shouting?" Shadow hissed. "That way, I wouldn't need to."

Dustil laughed bitterly. "Well, father, you sure know how to pick them."

"I didn't-" Carth began. He took a deep breath. "Dustil, I swear, I didn't abandon..."

 _Yes you did_ , Dustil thought. He couldn't quite bring himself to rub that salt in the wound. _You abandoned us, and now you know it_.

He didn't think of his father often. When he did, it was scenes like this. Maybe Dustil was a full Sith and he'd found the time to track his father down. Maybe his father had run across him on accident on the battlefield. Dustil would confront him, would tell him how his father had wronged him and his mother. Then, when Carth realized exactly what he'd _done_ , Dustil would raise his lightsaber high and—

His father straightened and met his gaze. "I abandoned you and Morgana."

Dustil's hand fell from his lightsaber.

"I... I haven't been a good father. You're right. I was never there when I should have been. Relying on your mother's holos to tell me how you were growing up was never... It was never what I intended, Dustil. But I can't do anything to change the past. What I _can_ do is try to help you now."

Dustil snorted. "Save it. I have all the help I need. I have friends- a family- that _cares_ about me here."

Shadow shook her head. "Dustil, you're too smart to believe that."

"What do you know?" Dustil snapped. "You're just here to fulfill your mission, you don't give a damn about me or any of us. You don't even bother talking to anyone except your teachers."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "And how many of your more sadistic friends do you tolerate because you're afraid upsetting them will end up killing you?"

"Better that they're on my side-" Dustil started. He stopped. Selene had asked him the same question- or implied that same question- more than once. _What happens when your 'friends' decide you're not their friend anymore, Dustil?_

Selene had been weak. She'd been afraid. That's why she'd died. 

His father was about to speak, but Shadow gestured him silent while Dustil thought.

"Prove it," he said at last. "Prove that the Sith are evil."

Shadow looked unimpressed with his demand. "Do you want a photo of a battlefield? A written out logical proof, maybe?"

"There was a friend of mine. Selene. She was the one who convinced me to come to the academy." Dustil hesitated. "She's dead now. I thought..."

"You suspect the Sith killed her," Carth said quietly.

"Teachers or other students?" Shadow asked.

"Find out," Dustil said. "Find out what happened to Selene. If you're right, if... Just find out." His eyes narrowed. "And if you do anything to jeopardize my position here with the Sith, if you ask the wrong questions, then I'll give Uthar the recording I've been making as a present."

His father's eyes widened. Shadow's did, too- but not in horror. She looked impressed.

"He's not lying," she said. "He's been recording this conversation."

"Vasha-" Carth said, turning to Shadow. Or Vasha. What a trite name. Dustil doubted it was her real one.

"I'll do it," Shadow said. She slipped her mask back on. "Dustil, give me a few days to dig. If you want to speak to Carth again on your own time, our ship is the Ebon Hawk."

"Just go," Dustil said.

"I'll be back," his father said. "I swear it."

And they were gone, slipping out into the hall. Dustil locked the door behind them and collapsed onto his bed.

Why had he done that? He _knew_ how Selene had died. They'd both known the dangers. 

And his father... 

He'd admitted he was _wrong_. He said mother had sent holos... Dustil had thought that his father was off fighting in the war, being dashing and brave, never once turning his thoughts towards home.

He stood up and paced until his legs ached. 

Why had he done that? He knew how Selene died.

Why was his father here? Why had he risked so much, just to talk to Dustil for a few minutes?

Why- Why- Why-?

\--

The next morning, Shadow attended to her usual duties in the academy before going down to the valley with her bodyguard and droid. If she made any headway in Dustil's task, she showed no sign of it to him.

For his part, Dustil tried not to pay her too much attention, but he was distracted. It got him more than a few blisters during lightsaber training.

"What's the matter?" Kreith asked as Dustil healed them after class. "Is doing Shadow's laundry that distracting?"

"You haven't seen the stains," Dustil muttered on instinct. 

Kreith laughed. "Well, make sure to leave some itching powder in her clothes for me if you get the chance, alright? I have good money on Lashowe joining us, but since Uthar killed Shaardan, I'm starting to worry."

Dustil frowned. "When did that happen?"

Kreith shrugged. "This morning. Shaardan turned in a dummy artifact. Uthar, well. You know how he gets about that."

Dustil shook his head. "Well, no real loss there. If I ever have to see anyone else run naked through Dreshdae..."

Kreith shrugged. "That's true. Hey, I'll catch up with you at lunch, all right? Bannien has me researching the locking mechanisms in the old Sith tombs from other planets, in case Ajunta Pall's tomb uses anything similar. Try not to brood too much, you can't pull it off."

"Sure, whatever, watch out for mines." 

It was standard procedure. If you couldn't figure out the puzzle in a tomb, or if you just wanted to make life difficult for others, you left a minor flash mine in an inconvenient spot. Not one strong enough to actually kill someone, just enough to remind your fellow students that vigilance was key. (Unless you were into that- Dustil had disarmed many a high-quality gas mine or plasma mine over the years.)

Was that how Selene had died? A particularly placed mine-

\--

ACCESSING LOG: Ebon Hawk, Garage, 12.06.017.2210

> _\- Anything?_
> 
> _\- Maybe. I’ll be back late, tonight._
> 
> _\- Are you even_ looking _?_
> 
> _\- In between keeping a Sith master and literally everyone else in the academy believing that I’m an off-kilter but sincere student, yeah._
> 
> _-_
> 
> _\- I have a good lead. That’s all I can guarantee._
> 
> _\- ..._
> 
> _\- Carth?_
> 
> _\- Vasha- Just. Be careful. Please._

ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ERASE THIS FILE? Y/N

ERASING....

\--

Shadow came back from the valley that evening and passed straight through the academy without saying a word to anyone but Yuthura. 

The next day, she did the same thing.

Dustil started to relax. Selene had been dead for two years. In a way, it was a good thing- it would keep Shadow distracted from her main task while Dustil sat on the recording he'd made. There was a copy in his bedroom, hidden under his mattress with the recording device itself. There was a copy buried in an out of the way spot in the valley. There was a third copy that he carried around in his belt purse.

 _At any time_ , Dustil thought, _I can go to Uthar and reveal to him that he not only has a spy in his midst, but a Republic war hero sitting less than a click away, waiting to be captured and held hostage. At any time._

He could see it in his mind's eye- Shadow, stripped of her mask, tortured for her secrets by the upperclassmen under the strict gazes of the professors. His father was too well known for the students to have a whack at, but maybe Uthar would let a few treasured pupils watch. If Dustil turned in the recording, he'd have a front row seat. 

But Dustil was... curious. It wasn't like the recordings would go stale. He could wait. He would see how it played out.

Four days after he assigned his task to Shadow, her bodyguard caught Dustil's eye. When Dustil met his gaze, he nodded slightly.

After dinner, Shadow knocked on his door. 

She was alone this time. She locked the door and took off her mask. It was interesting, that she was so quick to remove the gimmick she clung to when she was otherwise so guarded. It was probably manipulation on her part: In demonstrating her 'trust,' he would feel obligated to trust her as well. It was manipulation 101.

 "I assume you check your room for bugs?"

"Every few days," Dustil said. "The only bugs in here are my own."

"Good. Put on some gloves." She reached into her armor as he searched for his dueling gloves. "Make a copy of this if you want to keep it- I need to have the original back in Uthar's room sooner rather than later."

Dustil's eyebrows rose. The datapad she handed him was, indeed, one of Master Uthar's- he favored the Nexus 87 for its robust design and pragmatic approach to hacking. If you got the passcode wrong twice, it simply wiped itself. This one’s screen had been set to never sleep to get around that. "You broke into Master Uthar's room?"

Shadow's eyes danced. "You say that like it was a challenge. He relies too much on his reputation. Now, read. Start from the entries I highlighted."

Dustil sat on his bed and read.

The first entry was an appraisal of his progress by one of his earlier teachers: his noted increase in questioning the Sith Code, the way he broke ties with 'more powerful students, who could teach him a great deal.' 

Following that was a dry assessment that the cause of his weakness was Selene's council, written by Uthar himself.

Following _that_ was a set of messages between Uthar, Yuthura, and the teacher, discussing what should be done.

Dustil mouthed the words, 'She is of no use to us, while he is worth a great deal more without her. The most permanent way to drive home the place of the weak is a demonstration, I believe.'

The last message was a three-word message from Yuthura: 'I'll arrange it.'

Dustil stared at it for some time. The datapad creaked under his grip.

Shadow reached out and grabbed the end of the datapad. Dustil wanted to destroy it- to throw it against the wall, or maybe beat her face in with it.

She tugged.

He let go. She tucked it away in her armor.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"They killed her," Dustil said. "They... they sent messages to each other _over lunch_ , discussing how best to kill her."

"They did," Shadow said.

"Because of me."

They both waited for the rage.

Dustil stared at his empty hands. Slowly, he began to take off his gloves.

"If I do anything stupid in the next few days..." Dustil started. He stopped. "No. I won't."

Shadow sat on the floor across from him, leaning on the wall. "Are you sure?"

"I am," Dustil said. "I'm not going to attack Uthar during breakfast or anything."

"Why not?" Shadow asked.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Dustil snapped.

Shadow smiled. "Kid, you had the balls to make a recording of your own father spilling his guts to you about being a Republic officer on a secret mission. You're not stupid. It remains to be seen if you have any self control."

Dustil patted his lightsaber. "I didn't get this by being short-sighted, believe me."

"I suppose not." Shadow studied his face. "You're taking this very well."

"It's coming," Dustil said absently. "I suppose I should be wondering what to do now."

"Aside from attacking Uthar over breakfast?" Shadow asked.

Dustil nodded. "I don't suppose you'll tell me what your mission here is."

Shadow studied his face. He could feel her probe his mind gently with the Force. It was very different from the way his teachers taught them to rip out what they needed. Whatever she found satisfied her.

"Turn off your recording device."

Dustil sighed and reached under his bed, feeling for the bug. "I suppose I shouldn't ask a spy to trust me."

"First off, I'm not a spy," Shadow said. "I'm actually not sure what I am, but I'm not that. The Republic isn't paying me. Secondly, I do trust you. I'm just not sure if I trust you in a few hours, when you've had time to digest all this."

"You think I'd go to the Uthar with everything, when you just handed me proof that my teachers killed my- killed Selene?"

Shadow shrugged. "Angry people do stupid things. Believe me, I've done far stupider."

"Like what?" Dustil asked.

"Well, I tried to use the Force on you in front of your father, that was a pretty stupid move." She snorted. "He didn't talk to me until this morning, and that was only to ask if I'd made any progress."

Dustil wasn't sure how to react to that. He still didn't know what to think of his father. He definitely didn't know what to think about his father and _Shadow_. Instead, he jimmied the bug free and flicked it off before tossing it at her. She caught it before it bounced off her chest. "Bug's off."

Shadow checked it and put it on the floor. "Is that the only one?"

Dustil rolled his eyes. "I'm not made of money. Why would I waste these on my own room?"

Shadow shrugged. "Fair enough. I'm after the Star Map in Naga Sadow's tomb."

Dustil stared blankly at Shadow. "That's it?"

"That's it," Shadow confirmed.

"You're not here to, I don't know assassinate Master Uthar or anything?"

Shadow bit her lip. "Well, actually... No? But I've made a deal with Yuthura, and Master Uthar is probably not going to survive my trial in the tomb."

Dustil snorted. "Alright. I don't think Yuthura could fool Uthar, so hopefully he'll give you a chance to change sides."

"Actually, he already has. So I don't think Yuthura will survive, either."

Dustil rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Let me get this straight. You're after the Star Map, so you've become a Sith student, taken out most of the competing students in a little under two weeks when it's supposed to take almost a year, and found a way to kill both the headmaster and his successor."

"Yes," Shadow said. "That's about the long and the short of it."

"And between doing all that, you've found the time to smuggle my father into the academy for non-essential reasons and track down evidence that proves..."

Shadow shrugged. "I work better under pressure."

Dustil opened his mouth to point out that there was pressure and then there was the impossible. Instead he asked, "When's your trial? I assume a date's been set, since all your competitors are dead or missing."

"Tomorrow. How long will it last, do you think?"

Dustil thought about it. "Mine lasted the better part of a the day. That seems to be about average, but no one worried with Retelya's ran for a day and a half."

"Can you give me any tips?" Shadow asked.

He jerked his chin at her lightsaber. "Fallen Jedi who take the trial aren't allowed to take in their Jedi trappings, so be prepared for that. There are mines everywhere, but don't disarm them- or disarm them, and then put them back up again. That's tradition, and it's useful. There's an ice grenade hidden in the tomb; use the ice grenade on the acid. Avoid the hell out of the giant monster that wanders the tomb. The Force doesn't work on it."

Shadow leaned forward and clasped her hands around her knees. "A Terentatek? And I need to take it on without a lightsaber..."

Dustil shrugged. "I tricked it into dashing through a minefield. I didn't kill it, but it didn't bother with me again after that."

Shadow smiled slightly. "So, I'll pack mines. Is there anything else that I'm not allowed to bring in?"

"No food or water," Dustil said. "I brought in a blaster and a bunch of grenades, just to see if they'd take them, but Yuthura just laughed and said it was wise to be prepared."

"And a stealth field generator?"

Dustil shrugged. "I don't see why not. The thing has a good sense of smell, so I wouldn't rely on it, but you can take it in."

Shadow nodded. "So, tomorrow, when neither I nor Uthar nor Yuthura return to the academy, things are probably not going to go well here."

"The power vacuum is going to suck up a lot of teachers," Dustil said thoughtfully. "Maybe students, too, if the teachers play them against each other."

"So you'll want to be out of here before then."

Dustil frowned. He bit his lip. The academy would turn into a meat grinder, and everyone else….

Shadow met his eyes. "Pick your friends wisely. I have the money to buy every student here passage to somewhere else, so don't worry about that."

"And you say the Republic's not paying you."

Shadow half-smiled. "They wouldn't fund something like this. I made a lot of money on swoop racing on Tatooine."

Dustil eyed her. "Has anyone ever told you that you're full of bantha poodoo?"

Shadow's smile widened as she nodded. "Oh, yes. You're not even the first person today. Just make sure that the friends you pick are your friends, and that they're not reluctant to leave."

Dustil frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have proof, but you _asked_ for it." Shadow tapped the datapad beneath her armor. "You already knew what I would show you. The other students here aren't necessarily looking for proof, or won't accept it even if we slap them in the face with it. This is a Sith academy, not a Sith prison: the students here _want to be here_. I'm being very nice, risking the galaxy so a few more kids can escape this place, but if someone might tell on you, that's unacceptable."

"I get the picture."

"Good."

Shadow gathered herself as if she was going to stand and leave. She didn't.

"Nervous?" Dustil asked.

"A little," Shadow admitted, which was surprising. "Are you?"

Dustil kept his hands from clenching into fists. "No."

Shadow's eyes danced. "Liar."

"Why would you care if I'm nervous?" Dustil asked. "Why are you even doing any of this?"

Shadow tilted her head back against the wall. "Recently... I discovered that a great many things in my life have been lies. My entire world was turned upside down and shaken. You leaving the Sith isn't quite as extreme as... as what I learned, but it is a big deal."

Dustil raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure he bought that. It was too convenient. "Yeah? And it has _nothing_ to do with my father?"

"I wasn't going to bring that up," Shadow admitted. "But yes, that has something to do with it, too."

"So you and him...?"

Shadow made a 'kind of' gesture. "Our lives are very complicated right now. I hope so. I think even _he_ hopes so. But there's this whole thing where we're trying to save the galaxy."

Dustil wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh at that. Were you allowed to laugh at a joke told by a shady spy about how she was trying to get with your estranged father?

"Yeah..." Shadow said. "I shouldn't have tried to joke about that."

Dustil shrugged. "Do what you like. Up until a few days ago, I was idly thinking about killing him one day, so I don't think I get to be territorial about him."

Shadow straightened. "You _wh_ -? Never mind. How do you want to get off the planet?"

Dustil swallowed. "Where's your ship heading? I assume you're getting out of here as soon as you get the Star Map."

Shadow nodded. "If I can swing it, I won't even go back to Dreshdae and the ship will pick me up in the valley. But from here, we're going straight to where the Star Map's coordinates lead, so you'll need a different way out of here."

Dustil nodded slowly. "It'll make it easier if I have a ride in Dreshdae waiting for me tomorrow. I can leave the academy without a problem."

Shadow looked thoughtful. "Is there anywhere in particular you want to go?"

Dustil hesitated. It would be easy to find something to do on Coruscant, or to go somewhere else. But...

"Telos," Dustil said. "There's a restoration effort, right? Can you get me passage to Telos?"

Shadow shrugged and nodded. "I'll get you passage to a hub. You can figure out how to get home from there. Leave the academy around dinnertime; say you're going to eat in the cantina. Talk to the bartender. Tell him..." she grinned. "Tell him your name is 'Ward.' I'll leave some supplies with him and tell him to get you to a hub."

She pushed herself to her feet and settled her mask into place. "Now, Yuthura wants me to stay in the academy tonight, so I need to run. If I survive the next week or so, I'll look you up. It was nice to meet you, Dustil."

Dustil nodded. "Thank you, Shadow."

"Call me Vasha," Shadow said.

"That's not your name," Dustil said.

Vasha smiled ruefully. "You have good instincts. It's as much as a name as any, until I come up with a different one. Still, you're welcome."

\--

ACCESSING LOG: Ebon Hawk, Cockpit, 12.06.909.2210

_- I did it._

_\- Did… Did what? You found the proof?_

_\- I did. Dustil will catch a ride with Dorin tomorrow. He says he’s going to Telos._

_\- Already? What- Did he say anything about…?_

_- Not really._

_-_

_\- Carth, he’s just had his world turned upside down. I didn’t exactly want to interrogate him. It’s not a bad sign that his first destination is Telos._

_\- Yeah._

-

\- _Thanks, Vasha._

ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ERASE THIS FILE? Y/N

ERASING....

\--

The school was abuzz with gossip about Shadow’s trial. Everyone sensed things were going to change at the academy when Shadow became one of their fellow students. 

She'd had made no effort to ingratiate herself with the older students or even with any of the teachers except Yuthura. There were rumors that she intended to take her Sith lightsaber and leave. There were rumors that she intended to take her lightsaber and immediately become a teacher. There were rumors that she intended to take her lightsaber and become Yuthura's right hand, and that caused a lot of speculation about Uthar's longevity.

(Dustil was keenly aware that, as the day wore on, the likelihood that Uthar was still alive was dropping fast.)

More than a few people came up to him to ask him about Shadow. Luckily, none of them did it during lunch- none of them wanted _everyone_ in the cafeteria to know whatever they managed to wheedle out of Dustil.

Except Kreith. He’d stopped caring about social currency about the same time that he’d passed his trial. Not to mention he was preoccupied by the credits he'd lost on his bet. So Kreith nagged him until Dustil leaned in. 

"I honestly don't know," Dustil said. "She's weird, and probably crazy. Hopefully she'll take her lightsaber and _leave_."

Kreith rolled his eyes. "After all the effort she put in to come here? I don't think so. She already _had_ a lightsaber. A red crystal isn't all that hard to find."

Dustil shrugged. "She put in _some_ effort at classes. I think she's one of those ones who thinks that the Sith ideology can be applied outside the hierarchy."

Kreith looked at Dustil shrewdly. "So you think she's going to be leaving."

Dustil shrugged again. "I don't know, Kreith, I was guessing."

"No," Kreith said, voice low. "You weren't."

Dustil glanced around pointedly. They finished their lunches betting on whether or not Yuthura and Shadow were going to form an alliance against Uthar, like many of the tables around them.

Kreith lead Dustil back to his quarters. Dustil had been the one who told Kreith to start doing bug sweeps- they performed one together in silence.

"What do you know?" Kreith asked.

"Uthar's going to die," Dustil said. "Maybe Yuthura, too. Shadow's not coming back to the academy."

He hesitated for only a second. Kreith might not join him, but Kreith wouldn't stop him, either.

"Neither am I."

Kreith's eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm leaving," Dustil said. "Today, before people start to wonder why Shadow's initiation is taking so long."

"Where will you go?" Kreith asked. "Are you going with Shadow, is that how-?"

"No," Dustil interrupted. "I'm... I'm going back to Telos." He sat on Kreith's bed. He took a deep breath. 

Shadow wasn't real, not exactly. Shadow was a stranger who'd waltzed through his life and disordered everything in less than two weeks. He'd known Kreith for years. It was possible that, after today, Dustil would never see Kreith again.

That was more real than Dustil had thought it would be.

"Telos?" Kreith asked. "I thought you hated it there."

Dustil shook his head. "No. I loved Telos. I hated my father, but he..."

Kreith sat next to him. "Well, if you're leaving, I can't spread around rumors about you. Spill."

Dustil shook his head. It was one thing to tell the truth. It was another to endanger his father's mission, whatever it was. "Shadow's working for my father, she said that he'd been looking for me for years. And... I asked her to look up what happened to Selene."

"Selene died," Kreith said flatly.

Until a week ago, Dustil had regarded it the same way. Selene had died. She had been weak and she'd died. It didn't matter how.

"The teachers killed her," Dustil said. "Because she was holding me back."

It took Kreith a second to see the problem with that. "Huh."

Dustil shook his head. "And none of us see any problem with our teachers arranging to have us killed. Right. Forgot about that."

"So you're leaving," Kreith said.

"Yeah."

Kreith leaned forward, clasping his hands. "And Uthar is going to die."

"Or Shadow is going to die," Dustil admitted. "I'm gone, either way."

Kreith hummed thoughtfully. "And you have passage to Telos?"

Dustil nodded.

"Is there room for two?"

Dustil straightened. Kreith was studying the wall as if it was very important.

"Yes," Dustil said. "There is. You- I mean, Shadow said she'd pay anyone's way who I wanted to bring with me."

"So when are we leaving?" Kreith asked.

Dustil frowned. "You're coming?"

"Yeah," Kreith said. He half-smiled. "I've been doing some thinking recently. Some math, mostly. The Sith model of promotion is pretty efficient, but it doesn't lead to many early retirements. If I want to have summers off by the beach, I need to look into a different line of work."

"So it's just convenient that I'm leaving."

"Yeah, something like that." Kreith said. He turned to look at Dustil. "Maybe it has something to do with you being my friend, too."

Dustil snorted. "You won't be my friend after two weeks on Telos. For a farming colony, the food there is _pretty_ bad."

Kreith shoved him lightly. "You liar."

"We're going into Dreshdae for dinner," Dustil said. "Because you are so very torn up about losing _fifty credits_ on your bet."

"And we're not coming back?" Kreith asked.

Dustil nodded. "Don't take too much with you."

Kreith rolled his eyes. "Dustil, please. I didn't survive _this_ long here by being stupid."

\--

Dustil caught a flash of orange out of the corner of his eye. A lone pilot sat at the corner table with a clear view of the door. He was managing to be surprisingly inconspicuous, all things considered.

Dustil passed Kreith a few credits. “Hey, get me something."

Kreith followed his gaze. “That our ride?"

“No.”

With that, Dustil weaved through the crowded bar to Carth’s table.

“Hi,” Carth said.

Right now he just had a cup of caffa, but there was a stack of plates at his elbow. Dustil gestured at them. “How long have you been sitting here?"

Carth looked only a little embarrassed. “…A while. I didn’t want to risk missing you."

Four plates. Three caffa mugs. That was more than enough for eight hours of sitting. Dustil snorted and sat down. “Nice. I guess ‘Vasha’ isn’t exactly a team player.” 

Carth’s lips twitched. “Not exactly. I didn’t think to ask her when you were leaving until she’d left.”

It wasn’t as though Dustil and Vasha had planned anything specific in the first place, though Dustil wasn’t going to admit to any sort of poor planning. They lapsed into silence for a moment.

“What did she find?” Carth asked.

Dustil’s lips went tight. “A datapad. Uthar’s. They, um. They _discussed_ why they were going to kill Selene."

Dustil could sense Carth's flare of indignation. It bordered on rage. “Those bastards."

“Yeah.” Dustil didn’t exactly need to be told. The sympathy was unexpected. It was almost nice.

They lapsed into silence again.

“Thanks,” Dustil said at last. “For finding me. I’d never have known… So, thanks."

Carth frowned. “You don’t have to thank me for that."

Dustil shrugged.

“I’m proud of you,” Carth said at last. “I don’t know if that matters to you, but you saw something evil and you turned away from it. Not everyone can do that."

“It does,” Dustil said. The admission was surprisingly painless.

Carth’s eyes flicked over Dustil’s shoulder. Dustil turned half-way to see Kreith watching them from the bar. The twi’lek’s lekku flicked a question.

“Friend of yours?” Carth asked quietly.

“Yeah.” Dustil shrugged at Kreith and turned back around. “Look, I’m going back to Telos. I’ve gotta… I need to work things out. When your business is done, look me up."

Carth’s nod was jerky. “Of course. When are you leaving?"

“That depends on the bartender."

Carth smiled slightly. “I’m guessing Vasha’s plan was  _flexible_."

“You could say that, yeah."

They both snickered.

Dustil had never expected to laugh with his father, ever again, or to be fond of a stranger.

In the end, there wasn’t much else to say. Or, there was a lot to say, but there wasn’t nearly enough time to think of it all, let along say it. Carth had to pick Vasha up. Dustil still had to tell the bartender who he was.

Dustil stayed at the table when Carth left. Kreith slid into his father’s vacated seat. “So, that was daddy dearest?"

“Kriff off,” Dustil said without heat. 

“I thought you hated him."

“Me, too.” Dustil glared. “I thought I told you to get me something."

Kreith shrugged. “You looked busy. I drank it."

“Dick.”

The bartender nodded when Dustil told him he was Ward and took him into the back of the cantina. He handed over a pair of worn backpacks, a stack of credits, and instructions on who to get in touch with at Czerka for a cheap ride.

Neither of them looked back for long.

\--

ACCESSING LOG: Ebon Hawk, Cockpit, 12.06.909.2210

> _\- Well, that could have gone better._
> 
> _\- No kidding. Hey, something’s different about you._
> 
> _\- You could tell? I talked to Dustil._
> 
> _- …Right. While I’ve been trapped in a death-cave full of monsters and Sith, fighting for my life, you’ve been gossiping away._
> 
> _\- You know it._
> 
> _\- And?_
> 
> _- …I’m optimistic._

ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ERASE THIS FILE? Y/N

FILE SAVED TO DATAPAD.

ERASING....

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to write this fic for a long time. Vasha and Dustil's relationship means a lot to me, as antagonistic as they both are. They've been through a lot of the same shit.
> 
> "I'll never stop dreaming that one day we can be a real family, together, all of us laughing and talking, loving and understanding, not looking at the past but only to the future." - LaToya Jackson


End file.
